Company

Who We Are

Now in our fifth decade as agents of healthy change…

Balanced Body has always believed that mindful movement like Pilates changes people’s lives. Our passion for positive change has resulted in our becoming the world’s largest provider of Pilates equipment and education. We were the first Pilates company to substantially update Joseph Pilates’ equipment by combining state-of-the-art engineering, materials and technology with a modern understanding of human biomechanics. Our fearless leader (a.k.a. our founder and CEO), Ken Endelman, designed hundreds of improvements to Pilates’ original equipment, many of which have since become industry standards. Balanced Body has been awarded 28 US patents, and numerous foreign patents for his inventions, with more patents pending.

Our story starts here…

Way back in 1976 Ken began his career as a designer and craftsman of fine custom furniture in Hollywood's fashionable Melrose Avenue district. That background is still evident in every piece of hand-finished equipment our company makes. One day a potential customer came into the store. She taught an exercise called Pilates and wanted Ken to build her a better version of something called a Reformer. Ken had never heard of this exercise or equipment, but he was intrigued. He studied the equipment and Joseph Pilates' original designs, then consulted with other instructors to design new features with new materials that would facilitate execution of the movements. The result? A modern Reformer that was smoother, quieter, safer and more user-friendly. And a new career for Ken.

Throughout the 1980s, Ken continued to refine Pilates equipment, consulting with the most influential people in the industry including some of the original students of Joseph Pilates himself: Ron Fletcher, Eve Gentry, Carola Trier and Kathy Grant. That refinement continues today and keeps Balanced Body at the forefront of Pilates equipment design.

An advocate for the Pilates community

The more Ken continued his work the more fascinated he was by the Pilates method and what he saw it doing in people’s lives. He became deeply connected with the Pilates community and his vision for Balanced Body was to become not just a manufacturer of equipment, but an advocate of this special community. This commitment became dramatically evident when Ken took the lead in the Pilates trademark dispute, winning the lawsuit that made the Pilates name freely available to everyone.

Proud to partner with fantastic educators

Throughout the years Balanced Body has forged strong partnerships with the world’s leading Pilates educators, both classical and contemporary. We actively promote and nurture relationships that bring high-quality education to the fitness industry and the medical community, the athletic community and to Pilates enthusiasts.

Balanced Body provides Pilates instructor training, CoreAlign® instructor training, and continuing education opportunities that are stimulating, personal and deeply rooted in the art and science of movement. Interested? Check out our Education section for more details.

So what’s it all mean?

From experienced instructors to first-timers, we want everybody to realize the amazing benefits of this remarkable exercise and other mind-body exercise methods. From equipment to education to DVDs, we want to make sure we have exactly what you need to make a healthy change in your life.